Title: Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z Author: Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel Publisher: Pretty Things Press Publish Date: October 2004 Pages: 272 Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

Rating:

“In every Englishman’s subconscious lurks a cane and a schoolgirl with black stockings.” Thus reads the anonymous epigraph that begins Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z, which contains at least a few schoolgirl-inspired fantasies itself. But that’s far from the only kind of tale you’ll read here. Though focused on a fairly narrow topic, these twenty-eight stories (one for each letter of the alphabet, plus two “bonus stories” for good measure) are filled with a variety of settings and scenes.

There are stories, like Michelle Houston’s “Arianna’s Passion for Learning,” that explore spanking within the realm of roleplay, while others, like “Inventory Control,” by Sage Vivant, focus on spanking as a part of dominance and submission. Some stories are set solidly within the world of kink and fetish: Xavier Acton’s “Unlike the Others” is about a newly-professional dome, and the action of Bill Noble’s “”Her Long Black Overcoat” takes place at a San Francisco BDSM club. Other settings are more quotidian: “The Krankeit Treatment,” by Simon Sheppard, takes place in a college medical center, Tanya Turner’s “The Tiniest Skirt” involves a hot scene in a club’s bathroom during a concert, and various other stories take place in the quiet and comfort of the characters’ bedrooms or living rooms. Still other stories offer unexpected and irreverent scenarios: Tsaurah Litzky’s “Gifts from Santa” is more fun than I could ever have imagined Santa-centered smut to be, Marcelle Perks makes the most of the zoo at night in “Zoo Prowlers,” and Ian Philips offers a characteristically smart and hilarious cautionary tale for academics, entitled “See Dick Deconstruct.”

Other highlights include Sacchi Green’s “White Tigress, Scarlet Stripes,” a piece of historical erotica that centers on a wealthy Chinese household whose mistress is rumored to be trying to obtain immortality, and L. Elise Bland’s “Every Good Boy Deserves Favors,” a story about a piano teacher that shows just how true that mnemonic can be.

Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z is an exceptionally well-edited volume: Rachel Kramer Bussel has managed to compile a book that not only ranges widely, but that never seems to fall flat. In some edited volumes, stories that are both well-written and sexy seem to alternate with stories where the sex is bland, or where the author can’t seem to string together coherent paragraphs; this never happens here. And some added appeal, for those who are sexually omnivorous: stories in this book feature sex that’s diverse and whether it’s queer, hetero, coupled, or polyamorous, it’s always well done.